I thought my prayers had been granted, as I had never caught sight of the tipsy girl ever since she had slept-over at my apartment.

It has been a week or two and not a single day had she dropped by.

Nowadays, whenever I closed up the shop I’d be on look-out for her-

Not because I wanted to spot her, of course not.

That’d be absurd.

No, it’s because her note still haunted me.

She did write how she’d pop by and somehow repay me for taking care of her.

I wouldn’t mind getting a compensation for all the trouble she had put me through, yet at the same time I really didn’t want to meet her again.

Rather than extending my own shifts without my manager’s prior permission, I still prefer going home.

... But of course, life too much for things to go your way.

Another night, another issue.

Not her, but somebody else.

A man had stumbled himself into the store while I was sweeping the floor.

With a baseball cap on his head and a surgical mask over his face, he seemed awfully sketchy.

My pulse increased at a dangerous speed as I watched him come closer, too late for me to chase him out without a confrontation.

I saw his eyes looked me up and down.

I gulped in fear.

“Um… sorry sir, but we’re closed for the night.” I tried my best to control my voice to sound calm, even though I was anything but that.

My gut instincts told me that he was dangerous and I knew how accurate they were.

Every fibre of my body wanted me to get out of there as soon as possible, but with his build and my weak limbs I knew could never out-run him.

I was all alone in the store at 11 PM, with no one around to save me out of this situation apart from myself.

… Or at least that was what I thought before I heard the front door opening again.

“One cappuccino, please.”

Both the man and I turned our heads towards the direction of the voice instinctively.

I recognised it almost instantly, as if her voice was engraved within my brain.

Never had I thought I’d feel appreciative for her existence.

It was the girl who had passed out here a few weeks ago.

I watched her as she smiled directly at the man.

The girl’s establishment of her entrance and the confidence radiating out of her gaze seemed to have thrown him off completely.

The man was now frozen on the spot, just like myself.

I didn’t dare to move a single muscle within my body.

“Uh, didn’t you hear my order?” I heard her ask before we made eye-contact with one another. “I’d like a nice cappuccino.”

“Ah- okay.” I hastily nodded, taking that as a cue to flee to the back of the counter.

I started the coffee machine while my heart still thumping loudly within my chest, hoping that she would be okay with the dangerous-looking man still present in front of her.

I watched my hands tremble uncontrollably as I poured in some coffee beans.

There was nothing I could do but to pray.

“Oh sorry, were you going to order something as well?” I then heard the bold girl talk to the man.

Surprisingly, he abruptly left the shop without a word.

Both of our eyes followed him out of the store, and I immediately let out a loud sigh of relief as soon as he was completely out of sight.

“Gosh- that was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.” I breathed as I slumped against the counter.

“Yeah, that guy has been waiting for this day. Too bad I caught on.” she said with a shrug, making my eyes widen in shock.

“He… what?”

“He’s been observing you from the outside for the past week.” she informed ever so calmly, “I think he was planning out the time to take action, which reasonably was the time where you were cleaning up alone with the front door still unlocked.”

I blinked at her without a word for a few seconds as my brain took in all that information, processing them slowly.

“And you knew because…?”

She went to take a seat on the same sofa before replying.

It reminded me of her cappuccino.

Another unplanned extended shift, I suppose.

“While he was observing you, I was observing him.” I heard her chuckle light-heartedly.

“R-Really?”

“That’s why I haven’t been able to visit you properly. I didn’t want him to switch up his tactics and approach you without my knowledge.”

“So… you were waiting for him to do this?” I gave her another question as I foamed up her coffee.

“Yeah.” she clarified, “I figured that he wouldn’t dare to come back if I caught him red-handed while he was on the move.”

“Just… wow.” I couldn’t help but marvel at her while I placed her drink gently onto the table. “I… I never had a clue about any of this.”

“You’re lucky that I just happened to spot him one night. It was merely a coincidence.” she grinned.

“I guess I am.” I perplexed lowly, “T-Thank you, for protecting me.”

She simply hummed while enjoying the aroma of her small cup of coffee.

“Take this as a pay-back for your previous care. I did owe you one.”

“Speaking of which, you haven’t been out getting yourself wasted after that, right?” I now raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s going to be my first and last time caring for a drunk stranger.”

“Well, I don’t have another reason to get drunk for so far.” I heard her laugh before she took a sip of her drink, still burning her tongue. “Ouch- hot.”

“Why were you so upset anyways?” I found myself asking, even though it was clearly none of my business.

Somehow my mouth was faster than my brain this time.

She seemed taken aback from my unthoughtful question, and I couldn’t blame her for it.

I wish I didn’t blurt it out so fast.

Curiosity surely killed the cat.

“It’s um, family issues.” she cleared , “My mother’s diagnosed with something… bad.”

“Oh.” I found my cheeks burning up in embarrassment.

I should’ve never spoken a word.

Now look what I’ve brought up.

“I’m… sorry, to hear that.” I eventually consoled her the best that I could.

She was nice enough to flash a faint smile back at me.

“It’s fine. I saw it coming.”

We proceeded to sip on our drinks in a brief and awkward silence.

Brief, since she decided to move things along and switch up the mood.

With one elbow propped onto the table and her chin resting on top her supporting hand, she leaned slightly forward and grinned at me playfully.

“Say, did you miss me while I was stalking your stalker?”

It took me five seconds before I was capable of giving her an answer.

“N-No.” I said, making her grin turn into a smirk.

“Your blushing cheeks are exposing your lie, you know.”

“I’m not blushing because of that reason.” I argued back. “My face is flushed because I’m hot.”

“Yeah.”

I looked at her in confusion. “What?”

She took another sip of her cappuccino before answering casually.

“You are hot.”

Her comment almost made me choke on my drink, but luckily my coffee didn’t go down the wrong pipe.

She laughed out loud from my response, and I was obviously blushing by now.

“I thought you were sober this time.” I tried to glare at her out of embarrassment.

“I am.” she smiled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you’re spouting out nonsense.”

She leaned back onto the sofa and sighed softly. “Believe in what you want, but I stand my ground.”

“You’re weird.” I commented in a semi-joking manner.

“Thanks.”

Soon after finishing the last drop of her drink, she got up from her seat and approached the counter.

I followed right after her to operate the till.

“On debit, please.” she said as I prepared the machine for her automatically. “For both of our drinks.”

“No, you’re not paying for me this time.”

She looked at me weirdly but still with a smile on her face. “Yes I am.”

“But you saved me from a strange man tonight.” I frowned, “I should be the one treating you, honestly.”

“Please, just accept my payment.” she urged on while shoving her card towards my hand. “Take it as an apology, for making you worried about my absence.”

Her last sentence made me scoff out loud as I snatched the card right out of her hands, tapping it onto the card machine myself.

I heard her laugh as I printed out her receipt, making my face heat up even more than it already was.

When I handed over both her card and the receipt, her fingers accidentally brushed against my hand ever so softly.

I guess she took noticed of it too, since she then winked at me.

… I’m starting to think that she’s truly the dangerous one.